Haunted Nights ✅ Completed

Chapter Ten: An Untimely Visit

An Untimely Visit

     

“Gross.” Maya muttered, trying in vain to pick the thick cobwebs out of her hair.

It’d been late in the morning when Daniel had revealed the network of underground tunnels beneath the house; crude passages running under a large section of the property. Daniel was sure one of these housed his final human remains and he fully expected Maya to investigate each and every one until she found them. Unfortunately for her, the second night at the plantation had been a lot less restful than the first and spending the next digging around for a corpse was enough to get anyone down. It was just over forty-eight hours since she’d fallen into Daniel’s trap, but it hadn’t been until she'd tried to escape that Maya realized how screwed she really was.

After Daniel had changed their arrangement and released her from his hold on her second day, Maya had stomped into the house and settled into one of the downstairs parlors. She’d chosen the one closest to the kitchen, convincing herself it was the least grimy. The fact that it was the same room where Daniel’s family portrait hung had nothing to do with it – or so she told herself. Maya was just grateful Daniel hadn’t followed, though she wasn’t so oblivious to miss his shadows slipping into the room before she’d shut the door. They slid around the floor boards and took up residence in the darkened corners of the room.

Maya was sure Daniel had sent them to keep an eye on her, which made her curious as to whether or not they were sentient beings of some kind. Were they simply extensions of Daniel himself or did they each have a mind of their own?  Maya had never dealt with a wraith before so this was a brand new world for her. Realizing she was at a distinct disadvantage in her current situation, she decided to find out for herself.  

She watched the shadows in the corner carefully. They seemed content to just hang around, without bothering to move or swirl like they did when Daniel was present. Maya spoke directly to them, saying hello and asking general questions but didn’t get any sort of reaction. Changing tactics, she began asking questions about Daniel, the house, even the weather but got the same result. She’d decided she’d given them too much credit. They were just shadows. Maya had flopped down on one of the covered couches and cursed Daniel and his trickery.  

If she’d had any doubt about the shadows being sentient entities, they were quickly extinguished when she saw how they reacted to the things she said about him. She’d only been venting but the more she wished him dead (even more than he already was anyway) the more agitated the shadows got.  

Interesting.    

She kept up her barrage for nearly twenty minutes, all the while taking note of their movements. They hadn't seemed happy about what she was saying, but they'd never once left their post. 

Sighing, Maya had taken out her cell phone and was dismayed to see she was almost out of battery life. To conserve as much of it as possible, she shut her phone all the way down and vowed not to turn it back on until she’d put several miles between her and hell house. That meant she was going to have to try and make a break for it when she no one was looking.

As night had settled Maya worried Daniel would return for her, forcing her to eat in his cursed dining room again. She wasn’t convinced there hadn’t been something screwy with the food and drink that had caused her to experience Daniel in such a physical manner the night before. Everything she’d consumed had tasted almost too good, a sure sign of enchantment. Perhaps it was this magic that had caused her whole world to go so awry – she’d always been able to see and hear ghosts but physically touching them was a whole different ball game. It didn’t help matters that her traitorous mind kept replaying exactly the kind of touching she’d been doing with Daniel in super hi-fi 3D clarity.